NIA launches probe against Hurriyat leaders after sting op

Srinagar: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) is likely to put key pro-freedom leaders of the Valley under investigation for allegedly receiving funds from Pakistan, the Hindustan Times reported on Friday.

A PE is a precursor to an FIR (first investigation report), the first step in an investigation.

The investigation was launched after a news channel, India Today, carried out a sting operation on Nayeem Khan, Farooq Dar and Gazi Javed Baba. The channel aired footage showing the trio seen talking about receiving money from Hafiz Saeed, the LeT chief, and other Pakistani individuals.

“We suspect the money was distributed in the Valley for various violent activities like stone pelting and torching of schools and government buildings,” a senior NIA official, insisting to not be identified since he was not authorised to speak on the matter, was quoted as saying.

The money, NIA officials believe, was routed through hawala — a system of transferring money across borders that is outlawed in India. The payment is believed to have originated from militant outfit Lashkar e-Toiba (LeT) and unknown persons in Pakistan, the report said.

“We are issuing notice to the news channel for providing us the memory devices and cameras used in the sting operation to verify the contents,” the official told the newspaper.

The PE alleges that the hawala route is used to send money from Pakistan to agents sitting in Old Delhi’s Ballimaran and Chandni Chowk area before it is taken to the Valley, the report added.